Graphene to keep Team Sky ahead

Chris Froome, the top rider with Team Sky, will benefit from the team’s work with VersarienTIMES PHOTOGRAPHER MARC ASPLAND

An Aim-listed engineering group is to work with Team Sky, the professional cycling team, to explore adding graphene to its bike frames, tyres, helmets and other equipment.

Graphene has been described as a miracle material that is tougher than diamond, light and stretchable.

Versarien announced in a stock market statement yesterday that it will work with Team Sky to examine the benefits of adding the material to cycling equipment. Team Sky and Sir Bradley Wiggins last week accused by MPs of crossing “the ethical line” by using a power steroid weeks before their former rider won the 2012 Tour de France.

Neill Ricketts, chief executive of Versarien, said: “Professional cycling has always been at the forefront of technical innovation and the rapid adoption of new…